Archive for the ‘Tales of a Bookseller’ Category

Vacation Time Part Deux

Vacation is almost over, just today and tomorrow left–sob!  I broke my pinky toe Sunday, when a grocery cart suddenly stopped and I didn’t,  but nothing really dreadful has happened (knock on wood) so this can be called another successful trip to the beach.  There’s something about the Outer Banks that soothes the soul every [...]

June 24, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Vacation Time!

We’re down at the Outer Banks this week, Kitty Hawk to be exact.  After losing Molly, it’s especially nice to be here, away from the usual routine for a few days.
My friend, Janis, and I have been coming here to the same motel for a very long time—we think this is our 28th season, assuming [...]

June 21, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  4 Comments

The Loss of an Old Friend

Friday, Annie and I took Molly, my alltime favorite cat (I’ve loved them all but, yes, she was my favorite) to the vet for her last visit.  In recent days, it had become more and more difficult for her to walk and, finally, her back legs failed her.  I’m pretty sure she was also in [...]

June 20, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  2 Comments

A Scary Bookbuying Twist

We visited a nice little bookstore in St. Augustine called Anastasia Books, located right in the heart of the historic district.  Their forte is used books, many of which are rare, but they also have some new.  What was of particular interest to us was their large selection of fantasy and science fiction, one of [...]

June 13, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

A Potpourri of Thoughts

Contest: Drawing for Beyond Blood by Carol Pepper
Congratulations go to the winner…
Shirley Nienkark!
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Back to ConCarolinas…as expected, we lost money but we learned a few things to put us in a better position next year.  Most notably, there’s not much point in selling books for the majority of the attending authors because most of them sell [...]

June 9, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

ConCarolinas Day Two

No, there wasn’t a Day One report, mainly because there wasn’t a whole lot to say.  Can you guess how discouraging it is for a bookseller or any other vendor to man the tables for 6 hours and end up with hardly any sales?  Seriously, folks, we didn’t even cover our Thursday night dinner bill [...]

June 6, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Growing Into Mysteries

Psst…look over there on the right.  See?  It’s a new poll!

The last poll I ran, to choose your favorite genre, had some interesting results.  At one time, about six weeks ago, I pointed out that hardly anyone had chosen any of the young adult/middle grade categories, which I found very surprising, but then quite a [...]

June 5, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

ConCarolinas or Bust!!

Well, we’ll be leaving for ConCarolinas in Charlotte this morning, our first trip to this gathering of speculative fiction afficionados.  The Guest of Honor is Jerry Pournelle, author of a bunch of science fiction books, many in collaboration with Larry Niven, and one of them is a favorite of mine.  Lucifer’s Hammer is on my [...]

June 3, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  One Comment

Our Animal Pals

Nothing more needs to be said…

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So, this has to be one of the funniest pictures around—a baby Eastern Screech Owl.  Would you just look
at the feet on this critter?  He looks like he could stomp his prey flat in no time, doesn’t he?  And those beady
eyes could bore a hole right through you, donchaknow.  Makes [...]

May 30, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  2 Comments

Love Lost Twixt Authors and Bookstores

There is a lot of discussion going on these days about the effect ebooks are having on the print book industry and nobody really has any good ideas yet for melding the two all the way down the distribution chain.  The whole ebook thing is still so new and evolving that the [...]

May 28, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  2 Comments